North Carolina New Teacher Support Program (NTSP) Regional Research and Professional Development Grant

The East Carolina University (ECU) Research Practice Partnerships (RPP) will include Regional Beginning Teachers (BTs), Teacher Assistants, Regional Administrators, Regional Superintendents, ECU NTSP Coaches, and ECU Faculty and Leadership (e.g., Dean/Assistant Deans).
What is the problem of practice?
While there are several problems of practice that exist in our rural region (i.e., Eastern, NC), we believe it important to highlight the strengths of our community. Many times, rural communities are viewed as lagging or vulnerable due to the many complex social and economic disparities they experience compared to urban or suburban communities. Yet its these very complex disparities that put rural communities in a unique position. According to Fleming et al. (2018), the experiences that rural communities encounter are the very same experiences that yield resilience and strengths to navigate daily problems. Researchers have found that rural communities often value social infrastructure (e.g., sense of history, purpose), sense of belonging, community pride (e.g., proud of where they are from), have a shared sense of responsibility and civic engagement, cope well with adversity, and are more apt to create networks and support one another (Fleming et al., 2018). Eastern, North Carolina partners are no different. It is through these strengths, that we hope to engage in meaningful solutions that will provide supports particularly for school systems in our region.

Scholars @ ECU